Why It Matters

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) provided $125 million in supplemental appropriations to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to rebuild and restore units of the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) and state wildlife management areas, according to a July 2026 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. However, the report found that its unclear if the FWS and NWRS are properly balancing these funds, due to unclear objectives. The GAO further examined how the FWS deploys funding, focusing more on what gets built rather than if its working.

The Big Picture

FWS has obligated 99.6 percent of the $125 million, primarily for financial awards, grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to state agencies, nonprofits, and local partners. Nine projects span 23 states and more than 75 refuge units. As of April 1, 2026, FWS had expended approximately $48.9 million, or 39 percent of its appropriations. FWS officials reported that projects have restored more than 5,000 acres of wetlands and 16,000 acres of other habitats.

FWS selected projects by identifying NWRS areas with planned, but unfunded, activities aligned with IRA purposes, and prioritizing parts of the country that had not previously received supplemental appropriations.

However, the GAO report found that without performance goals, FWS cannot determine the extent to which the projects are meeting their stated purposes. The agency tracks outputs, like acres restored and structures built, but has set no benchmarks against which to measure whether the underlying objectives are being achieved.

GAO made two recommendations:

  • directs the FWS Director to instruct the NWRS Chief to develop and use performance goals for each IRA Section 60302 project to determine whether the agency is meeting the purpose of the appropriations and making progress toward its implementation plan objectives
  • directs the FWS Director to ensure that FWS's comprehensive review of the refuge system includes determining the critical skills and staffing levels needed to achieve NWRS goals and developing strategies to address any gaps.

Both recommendations carry open status, meaning actions to satisfy their intent have not been taken or are being planned.

The Bottom Line

The GAO compared FWS's oversight approach against federal guidance and key practices for performance management.

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